Vodka binge swimmer rescued after losing consciousness in river

A post by the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team said they received a request for assistance for a young male on Monday evening.

They said the "Ambulance Service were already responding and reached the scene first, assessing and stabilising the casualty".

They said the team "packaged the casualty and evacuated him by stretcher to track access before a short shuttle to the roadside and Ambulance for onward transfer to hospital".

The post added: "Normally at this point we’d leave it there, but on this occasion we feel obliged to include that the casualty had consumed a full bottle of Vodka before going swimming.

"Fortunately he managed to get out of the water before losing consciousness, while his friends were in various states of disarray themselves and not all understanding of the severity of the incident, nor very accepting of advice subsequently imparted."

Calling for people to be more careful around water, the post added: "This situation could easily have been so much worse with potentially fatal consequences and yet so avoidable.

"The hot weather has clearly encouraged many young people to the river with an estimate of circa. 50 enjoying the ‘jumps’ tonight, unfortunately many combining swimming with consuming alcohol.

"Don’t become a statistic. "

They added that 12 team members responded to the incident.